Top developments in the fintech sector over this week

3 August 2017

The week from last Monday has been full of events and new announcements in the fintech market, as the world of technologies and innovations continue its pace. From new mobile applications, payment solutions and services to progress in the legislative and regulatory spheres, it has been a week rich of interesting facts, so we decided to make a short digest of the key developments for you.

Paytm to compete with WhatsApp

Paytm, an Indian electronic payment and ecommerce services provider, is reportedly developing its own messaging solution to rival Facebook-owned WhatsApp application. According to the speculations posted by several media sources, Paytm plans to hire some specialists for a development of its own messaging service which will be built into its payments application. Over the new messaging platform users will be able to upload and send audio, video, images and type texts.

Payments Council Singapore

Singapore’s central bank and financial regulatory authority the Monetary Authority of Singapore unveiled its new initiative to establish a Payments Council that will be dealing with the steps to implement and further integrate electronic payments into the nation. The new association will involve 20 leaders from banks, payment services providers, companies and trade associations. They will be making efforts to promote cooperation within the sector, compatibility and interoperability of different payment solutions, while also encouraging wider online payments adoption.

Ravi Menon, a managing director at MAS, will chair the Payments Council and under his leadership MAS hopes to attract people which would be able to represent their relevant communities to the best advantage. Members of the council will be appointed for a term of two years and will hold meetings to discuss how to facilitate and streamline various financial technology initiatives and projects.

Ask Siri to pay for RBC

Over the past week Royal Bank of Scotland announced upgrade of its mobile banking application allowing iPhone and iPad owners to request Siri to make payments for their bills. A user needs to voice the command to Siri which after that asks for confirmation of the payee’s name from the list and the bank’s application will debit the account processing the transaction secured by TouchID.

RBC also added another feature allowing customers to send money using Interac within iMessage. Typing the required amount a user sends money to a contact in the iMessage and confirms it with TouchID. Money transfers using Interac through Siri have already been available for RBC customers so far.

Skype payments

Skype has partnered with PayPal to make it possible for users to send payments to their contacts in the list in the process of video or audio chat using their iOS and Android devices. Skype users now may perform payments with PayPal directly from their Skype application and instantly send money to their relatives or friends. The new service becomes available to Skype users holding PayPal accounts in 22 countries across the globe.

The latest initiative comes as a new move in a series of PayPal’s efforts to expand its payment services reach across various messengers and social media platforms including Siri commands, iMessage payments and transactions on Slack, as well as sending money through Outlook.com.

Payconiq acquires Digicash

Payconiq, a business of Belgian ING, acquires Digicash, a Luxembourg-based mobile wallet service, in a move to expand further across Europe, as Digicash boasts ¼ market share in Luxembourg. The takeover is made within the framework of ING’s ambitious goal to establish a multi-national mobile wallet available to consumers in most European countries with a capability to make payments online, peer-to-peer and in the business environment with the account provided by one of the member banks.

Duke Prins, CEO of Payconiq, notes that the company seeks close partnership with local users, retailers and banks working with Digicash and having similar philosophies, business mission and technologies streamlines such cooperation. Besides, he believes that the acquisition is an exciting example of relationship within the Benelux area. Terms of the takeover have not been detailed.

Klarna P2P payment service Wavy

Klarna, a Swedish ecommerce company with full banking license granted by Finansinspektionen, the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority, reported the roll-out of its latest peer-to-peer payment service named Wavy to allow customers to make and accept payments using a secure, quick and convenient architecture.

According to the company’s official statement the new service allows account holders in 31 European countries to transfer funds in EUR and divide their bills between friends, colleagues and relatives. Under the terms of the service use, customers may link their bank accounts or credit cards to Wavy with the payment link generated for them for the cases when they need to make a funds transfer. This link could be shared using existing social media profile or directly with another Wavy user. In order to accept payment a user does not need to sign up for Wavy service, they may claim the transferred funds through their bank account.